ESPN Says the 49ers Will Have to Pay Brock Purdy $65 Million Per Year

Remember, the salary cap goes up roughly 12 percent every year and Purdy won't be eligible for a contract extension until 2025. By then, the going rate for a franchise quarterback will be roughly 12 percent higher than it is now.

Former Iowa State quarterback and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy talks to media at the Brock Purdy Youth Football camp at Jack Trice Stadium football practice field on Saturday, June 22, 2024, in Ames, Iowa / Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA

Brock Purdy currently is the biggest bargain in professional sports. Next year, assuming he maintains his level of performance, he will become one of the highest-paid players in the NFL, if not the highest.

Remember, the salary cap goes up roughly 12 percent every year and Purdy won't be eligible for a contract extension until 2025. By then, the going rate for a franchise quarterback will be roughly 12 percent higher than it is now.

That's why ESPN's Bill Barnwell expects Purdy to reset the quarterback market next year.

"If he continues this level of play, my best estimate is that a Purdy deal would come in around five years and $325 million, for an average of $65 million per season," writes Barnwell. "It's always possible the quarterback could take some semblance of a reduced salary to try to make life easier for his team, but after making just $2.6 million over the first three years of his existing deal, I'm not sure why he would be willing to cut the 49ers any slack. (He has made a few hundred thousand dollars by virtue of the league's performance-based pay system, but he's still going to be the most underpaid player in football by a considerable margin.)"

Now we see why so many veterans on the 49ers are demanding contract extensions this offseason. They understand that once Purdy gets paid, the 49ers most likely will have to cut lots of highly-paid players to make room for his gigantic salary. So they want to make sure they'll be on the team beyond this season.

The 49ers will have to decide if Purdy truly is worth that much money. He certainly is a terrific quarterback, but I'm not sure he's a future Hall of Famer. And if he's merely very good, then he won't live up to that outrageous contract and the 49ers slowly will slide into mediocrity.

Would Kyle Shanahan have the nerve to trade Purdy for a top 10 pick which he would use on a quarterback? Probably not after drafting Trey Lance with the third pick in 2021 NFL Draft. But you never know with Shanahan.

Stay tuned.